Holiday Pride
by Holiday
Summary: Holiday and Bumlets don't get along. Will Kloppman's Secret Santa idea help? Please R


_So I wrote this…at least four years ago and MG just found it for me. So I thought I'd post it here and see what people think. I will come back and fix it up a bit, but I wanted to post it. _

_It's not slash for those of you who've come to expect that. Don't worry, I'm getting over my writer's block slowly but surely, lol._

**Title: Holiday Pride  
Part: 1/1  
Rating: PG  
Why: Because…  
_Disclaimer: Don't own any of it._**

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Christmas was usually a cheerful time in the Newsboys Lodging house, but this year all it was, was a bunch of bickering and fighting. The newsboys and few newsgirls were fighting like cats and dogs and poor Kloppman was tired of it. The newsies seemed determined to make each other miserable at all costs, especially Holiday and Bumlets. Those two never got along, but it seemed to have gotten worse over the past few days.

Kloppman sighed as he remembered part of the fight that morning.

_"Would ya get outta my way?!" Holiday practically yelled at the black haired boy. "Some a us have ta get ready to sell papes."_

_Bumlets turned to the angry green eyed girl and stared at her, not moving an inch. "Look Miss Priss, I ain't takin' up dat much room. If ya jist move your lazy self ovah two steps you can continue on yer mission to annoy everyone."_

_Holiday turned red and stormed past him, making sure to hit him hard with her elbow as she went by. Bumlets grunted when her elbow went into his stomach but he didn't have a chance to say anything before she went into the washroom._

Right now everyone was out selling, and Kloppman was determined to come up with an idea to get the newsies to be friendlier to each other during this holiday season. He thought about it all day and finally came up with a good idea. That night he shared it with the boys and girls. After about an hour of arguments, he finally convinced them that it would be a great idea.

"So what ya want us ta do, is draw names, den whoevah's name we draw, we have ta do nice things for dem for a week?" Holiday said repeating Kloppman's plan. She didn't really like this idea. What if she got someone that she didn't like?

"Yes that's it." Kloppman said, happy that he had gotten the stubborn teens to agree. "It kind of doubles as a Christmas present too. Now, we're going to pick names tonight and you can start tomorrow."

So everyone wrote their names on a piece of paper and put them into Cowboy's hat. Those that couldn't write had someone else do it for them. Holiday glared at Bumlets as he moved in front of her to put his name in. After dropping her name into the hat she retreated back to her bunk. When all the names were in, Kloppman took the hat and shook it a bit to get the names mixed up.

"Okay Race you can pick first." Kloppman said standing in front of the short Italian.

"Aww….what if I don't want dis name?" Race asked when Kloppman started to move on.

Blink smacked him and said, "Dat's da point stupid. Ya have ta learn ta get along wit people ya don't like."

Kloppman nodded and continued around the room. Holiday was the last to pick and she frowned fiercely when she saw the name she pulled. She crumpled the paper angrily and stormed out of the room.

"Wonder what her problem is." A tall, brown haired girl named Schools commented. She looked down at her own paper and smiled.

Bumlets stared out the window and wondered the same thing as Schools. Not that he cared, because Holiday was his biggest enemy. Or was she?

During the next week there was a dramatic change in the behavior of the newsies. They were nicer to each other and seemed to be happier than before. They were constantly walking around the lodging house with sly smiles on their faces because they were pleased that they had once again fooled the person they were doing good deeds for.

What amazed Kloppman the most, was the fact that Holiday and Bumlets hadn't fought once that whole week. Holiday was being decent to him and Bumlets returned the favor. In fact, it seemed that when Holiday wasn't starting fights, Bumlets had no reason or desire to fight with the girl.

"So Holiday, who did you have?" A short hazel eyed girl by the name of Corner asked her at the end of the week. They were all in the bunkroom, getting ready to pick new names for their little game.

Holiday smirked and shook her head. "I ain't tellin' ya. It's s'posed ta be a secret an' I'se keepin' it dat way."

"Aww come on Holly, I'se your best friend. I won't tell nobody." Corner begged.

"She said no, sweetheart." Specs said wrapping his arms around Corner's waist. "You know she ain't gonna tell ya no matter how much ya beg."

"But I told her." Corner pouted.

"I nevah told ya to." Holiday laughed.

Bumlets watched the whole pointless conversation from his spot across the bunkroom. He had found during the past week that Holiday wasn't that bad of a person when she wasn't insulting him every two seconds. Now he wondered what it would be like to actually be her friend.

"Okay lets pick the new names now." Kloppman said once Jack's hat was once again filled with names.

And so the hat went around the room once again and Holiday picked last once again. This time she looked at her paper with mild curiosity, twirling her gold cross around her finger unconsciously. When she saw the name, her green eyes flashed and she stormed out of the room again for some time alone on the roof.

Bumlets stared after her and wondered what would happen if he went to ask her what was wrong. "She'd yell at me and tell me to get out of her face." He mumbled to himself. Sighing, he sat down on Dutchy's bunk, which was below his, and looked down at the paper in his hand. Racetrack would be easy to do good deeds for, Bumlets thought. He folded the paper slowly and stuck it into his vest pocket.

"Hey Bums." Dutchy said looking down at his friend.

"Uh…hey Dutchy. I take it ya want yer bunk huh?"

Dutchy grinned and waited for Bumlets to climb up to the top bunk. When the lights went out Bumlets closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately he stayed awake until Holiday came in a few hours later. She closed the window as quietly as she could and then made her way over to the washroom. He heard the water turn on and then off again. With the light from the streets, he was able to see her come back into the bunkroom and watched as she let her hair down. It was long and shined darkly in the light as it cascaded down her back. He was mesmerized with the sight. He watched her until she had climbed into her bed and had pulled her blanket tightly around her. He then closed his eyes, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The ritual was repeated again the next week and Holiday stormed out of the room like she had the first two weeks. Other than that, the Manhattan Lodging House had become a much more positive place to live. The newsies weren't fighting amongst each other and they were actually happy that they were doing things for their friends. When it came to the last time to pick names before Christmas, all the newsies gathered into the bunkroom cheerfully.

"Well this is the last time you have to do this fellas." Kloppman said gathering names.

"Hey don't forget us goils too." Corner told Kloppman, a bit offended by his "fellas" comment.

"Sorry Corner. And girls too." Kloppman corrected himself.

Corner smiled and nodded with satisfaction. Holiday looked at her friend and laughed lightly. "It doesn't mattah dat much does it?"

Corner's eyes widened as she feigned shock. "Why Holiday my deah, of coise it mattahs. We'se ladies an' should be acknowledged as such."

Laughing, Holiday threw her pillow at her friend. "You probably don' even know what acknowledged means."

"I do too!" Corner argued throwing the pillow back and hitting Holiday square in the face. "Are you'se sayin' I'se stupid?"

"Yeah, dat's exactly what I'se sayin'." Holiday giggled, dodging the next pillow that came flying her way.

Corner looked around for something else to throw and settled on Dutchy's hat cause he was right next to her. Throwing it at Holiday, she laughed when it hit the girl in the nose. "Take dat ya evil goil."

Holiday erupted into a fit of laughter and couldn't even respond to her friend's comeback. Corner stared at her friend rolling on the floor with laughter before joining her, laughing equally as hard.

Everyone stared at the two laughing newsgirls with wide eyes, all of them talking to the person next to them about the craziness in front of them. Bumlets, who was lying on his top bunk, stared down at the girls on the floor and wondered if him and Holiday would ever be friends. That day Holiday had actually smiled at him, sending shivers up and down his spine. That smile had let him see a side of her that she never showed him. She had a gorgeous smile and he wished he could see it more often.

"Are you goils finished?" Specs asked helping his girlfriend off the floor when they had stopped laughing.

"Yup I think we are." Corner smiled as Specs offered a hand to Holiday as well.

"Thanks." Holiday said brushing off her pants and plopping down on her bunk.

Specs slipped his arm around Corner's waist and pulled her to his bunk for a few sweet kisses before name picking. Holiday groaned and turned away. "Dat's what I get for bein' best friends wit dose two."

Kloppman came in a few minutes later and announced that it was time for the last name picking. Everyone took a scarp of paper and wrote their names down and threw them into Jack's hat. Bumlets threw his name in and stepped back, watching Holiday drop hers in after him. She looked up at him, but didn't award him with a smile. She just arched an eyebrow and moved passed him towards her friends. Bumlets frowned for a second at her back, but changed expressions quickly when Dutchy came up to him.

"So didja have anybody you didn' like yet?" Dutchy asked.

Bumlets shook his head. "Dere isn't really anybody dat I don' like."

"What about Holiday? You two have hated each otha since she foist came ta Manhattan." Dutchy pointed out.

Bumlets opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again. He didn't know what to say since he had no intention of telling Dutchy about his recent change of attitude towards his once worst enemy.

"Hey Kloppy can I pass da hat around?" Crutchy asked hobbling over to him. Kloppman agreed and handed the boy the cowboy hat. "T'anks. Okay Jack, you'se foist."

Jack reached his hand in and grinned when he saw the name. Snoddy was next followed by Skittery and Schools. When it was his turn, Bumlets reached in and pulled out a name opening it quickly.

_Corner._ Not what he was expecting, and he had no idea what to do for her. "I guess I'll figure it out." He told himself.

"Talkin' to yaself?" Pie Eater asked coming up next to him.

"Yeah." Bumlets said seriously before he realized what he had said. He looked over at Pie Eater who was grinning at him. "I mean….oh nevah mind. I'se tired an' need some sleep." He said as an excuse.

"Shoah Bums, shoah." Pie Eater teased clapping him on the shoulder.

Bumlets shook his head and watched Crutchy hobble around the room, letting people pick names. Holiday was last again pulling a name out after Crutchy.

With hesitation, she finally opened the paper to look at the name. When she saw it she burst into tears and went running towards the stairs. She ran down the stairs and out the front door, stopping only when she reached the street. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she tore up the paper into as many pieces as she could then threw them to the ground. She then sat down on the curb and sobbed into her arms.

Back up in the bunkroom, everyone was trying to get through the door and down the stairs at the same time. Who wouldn't want to know what had made the strong-willed girl cry? Bumlets, instead of pushing his way to the door, walked over to the window and went out on the fire escape. He saw Holiday sobbing on the street and climbed down the fire escape quickly. When he was at the bottom though he didn't move towards her. If she saw him she might start crying harder. He didn't know what to do and stayed glued to that spot for quite a while.

When Corner finally emerged from the lodging house, Bumlets turned to start back up the fire escape. He wanted to know what was wrong, but felt bad listening in on their conversation. He continued all the way up to the roof. With the wind ruffling his hair and making him cold, he rubbed his hands together then sat down on the edge of the roof.

Corner saw her friend sobbing in front of the lodging house and immediately went to her side. She gently touched Holiday's back and waited for her to look up. When she didn't Corner started talking to her anyways.

"Holly, are you okay?" she asked softly. Holiday continued crying and Corner tried again. "Holiday, do ya wanna come inside? It's freezin' out--"

"It ain't fair Cornah." Holiday finally said looking up to reveal her tear stained face. "I tried Cornah, I really did."

"Hol, I don' know what yer talkin' about." Corner said, confused at Holiday's meaning.

"Every single time, we picked names I pulled his. I got Bumlets every single time." Holiday cried. "Every week I told myself it was ovah, but I always pulled his name again."

"Oh Holiday…."

"I tried ta be nice to 'im. I really did. I was even able ta smile at 'im taday. But I can't do it anymoah." Holiday said with fresh tears falling from her eyes.

Corner sighed and brushed Holiday's chestnut hair out of her face. "Holly, you don't hate him."

Holiday stared at her. "Cornah I've always hated him. He's so…."

"He's so what?" Corner challenged. "I know you don' wanna heah dis, but da only reason you can't do dis is cause a yer pride. You'se da most stubborn goil I know an' yer pride is woith too much to ya."

Holiday looked down at the ground, carefully avoiding eye contact. "I can't help it." She whispered.

"Yes you can. You jist have ta try. I'm not gonna make ya cause I ain't yer mudda. But you should try." Corner told her. When Holiday nodded Corner grabbed her arms and pulled her to a standing position. "Now, if ya want we cin switch names. I got Mush, an' I don' mind havin' Bums."

"Really? But…."

"It's done then. You cin have Mush, an' since tomorrow's Christmas Eve anyways dere ain't much ya gotta do." Corner said smiling.

"Right." Holiday replied.

"Oh come on Holiday. Dis is your season. Da least you could do is smile."

"You're annoyin' didja know dat?" Holiday laughed, smiling against her will.

"But it makes ya smile." Corner defended hugging her friend.

Holiday laughed and smiled broadly. "Come on let's go inside. I'se cold."

Corner nodded and the two girls walked inside, unaware of Bumlets who was still watching them from the roof.

The next day went by slowly for Bumlets. Holiday avoided him like the plague and he was beginning to notice Corner following him around. This made it difficult for him to do things for her when she was always there. When night time finally came, Bumlets quietly retreated to the roof.

When he got there he sat down against the wall and looked up at the sky. It wasn't a very clear night and he couldn't see much. Closing his eyes, he resigned himself to just enjoy the quiet air around him.

"Bumlets?"

Jumping up in surprise, Bumlets immediately found himself face to face with the person that had called his name. "Holiday? Um….I can go." He said moving to step around her and leave.

"No you don't have to!" she said reaching out and grabbing his arm.

He looked down at her hand on his arm and wondered what she was up to. He stared into her eyes, which were shining dark green in the night. She stared right back at him, her breath caught in her throat.

She had never realized how handsome he was before. She was fascinated with his black hair which fell right into his eyes. His face had this charm to it that she found appealing. With her hand on his arm she could feel the strength he had and that was something she loved. When the wind started to blow she got a good look at his warm, chocolate brown eyes staring back at her and she nearly melted.

"I um…." She stuttered nervously. "I wanted to….uh…."

He looked at her waiting for her to find the words she couldn't remember. He was very aware of her hand still on his arm.

"I wanted to talk to you." She finally remembered.

He nodded, "Okay."

She removed her hand, took a deep breath and turned away from him, "I wanted ta say dat I'm really…." She paused and looked him straight in the eye, "…really sorry. I'm sorry for everything dat I've done ovah da past years. I've been selfish an' stubborn an' a real bitch."

With his mouth wide open Bumlets nodded and let her continue.

"I know dat I've been mean, but I was wondering….hoping really….dat maybe you could….forgive me?"

Bumlets slowly nodded. "I was hopin' dat dis would happen."

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"Since we started dis game a Kloppman's you've been nice ta me an' I've had a chance ta see how you can be when ya don' insult me all da time." Bumlets explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry 'bout all dat. I was just….holding my pride. I 'ave dis stubborn pride an'--"

Bumlets put his hand on her shoulder. "Stop. It's okay. Let's jist forget about it. I wasn't all dat nice either."

Holiday nodded but concentrated on the electricity that seemed to be flowing to her from his hand. "Uh huh. Forget."

Bumlets opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when Holiday reached forward and grabbed his other hand, pulling him closer to her. "So we can be friends now?" he asked softly.

"I hope we can." She replied just as softly.

They stared at each other for a full minute before they both broke out into wide grins. Holiday threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug.

"Do ya wanna go back inside?" Bumlets asked when they separated.

"Yeah it's cold out heah." Holiday said after she shivered slightly. Before they turned to go inside she asked him again if he was sure he wasn't still mad at her.

"Holiday. You'se said you were sorry. Unless you're takin' it back, just forget about it." He said staring down at her.

"I said it an' I meant it." She said firmly. "Can I tell ya somethin'?"

He nodded. "Anything."

"Anything?" she repeated mischievously. She smiled slyly and prepared to throw out a sarcastic remark.

"You know what I meant." Bumlets told her putting his hand over her mouth.

"Mmph mmm mmm mmmph." She said before breaking out into laughter.

Bumlets laughed and moved his hand away from her face, letting her laughter fill the night air. She smiled at him when she was finished laughing. He felt shivers run down his spine and he was sure it wasn't from the cold. "So, what were you going to tell me?" he asked trying to compose himself.

"Oh, right. I was gonna tell you….um…." she said thinking about her question. "Well I was gonna tell you why I ran out a da bunkroom last night."

"You don' have to." He said quickly.

"I heard you come down da fiah escape."

The surprise that spread across his face told her exactly what he was thinking.

"I saw you through my hands and wondered what you'se were doin' dere. I didn't t'ink this at da time, but now I know dat you must 'ave gone down dere cause you cared. I was crying because for da fourth time in a row I pulled your name out a Jack's hat." She said pausing to wait for his reaction.

He just looked at her calmly and waited for her to continue. He wasn't sure where she was going with this so he wanted to wait till she was finished.

"I couldn't take it anymore. I hated you….or so my pride told me. I didn' like having ta do nice t'ings for ya when my pride was tellin' me dat I was wimp for it. Yesterday, I was beginning to feel more like your friend than your enemy and my stupid pride scolded me for it." She told him, looking him straight into the eyes.

He just stood there staring back at her. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what she wanted him to say. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and continued to gaze at her.

"When Cornah came ta talk to me she told me 'bout my pride controlling me. I knew she was right but I didn' want ta face it. We switched names and I thought it would be all over. But I wanted to be your friend. I wanted ta stop awl da fights we always was havin' an' just get along wit you'se. It took me all the way until tonight ta get ovah me pride."

Bumlets sighed and gave her a smile. "I'm glad ya did."

She looked at him wondering if he really did care.

"I always wondered why we fought so much. When you started ta be nice ta me I got a glimpse of da real you. You'se a nice goil, you've just got a bit too much pride. I'm happy you cared enough ta overcome it an' be my friend. Dere ain't too many dat would've done it." He said, taking her hand.

She sighed, relieved that she had been able to tell him her thoughts.

"Okay. Let's go inside an' forget dis." Bumlets said giving her hand a squeeze. He loved the electricity that flowed between them.

"Hey, we now have da opportunity ta pull a nice little prank on our fellow newsies." Holiday said thinking out loud. "We could….make like we're fighting an' den end up…."

Bumlets stopped her with a sweet kiss on the lips. She was startled at first but caught on quickly and kissed him back. He loved the sweet taste of her lips and wanted more. He slowly coaxed her lips apart and he explored the depths of her mouth. The kiss went that way until they both pulled away to catch their breath.

Holiday, who by then was wrapped up in Bumlets' arms, leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes trying to catch her breath. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he had his around hers. When she was a bit more composed she pulled back just a bit to look up at his beautiful face.

"We could kiss." He told her.

She nodded, pretending to know what he was talking about. Kissing sounded great to her even though she didn't know what he was talking about.

Laughing, he told her what he was talking about. "Da prank remembah? You said we could go in fighting den end up…..an' ya nevah finished." He explained. "Well we could kiss. Dat would shoah surprise 'em." He said.

She nodded and looked up at him. "You kiss very good."

He looked down at her with a mixture of surprise, amusement, and admiration or thanks. "Uh…t'anks."

"Dat's not what I meant ta say." She said seriously.

"It's okay, I don' mind." He smiled.

"Do ya wanna pull dat prank now?"

"Only cause it's freezing out heah." He said kissing her quickly before letting her go.

She watched him storm into the bunkroom, pretending to be mad, and she couldn't help thinking that she had just beaten her pride. And because of hit she had earned the best holiday present ever.

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_Please let me know what you think! I'll get to writing more of Control as well as others ASAP :-)_

_Aloha!_


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